Tag Archives: Kim’s Cake Challenge

Week Eighty Six – Mary Berry’s Mushroom & Garlic Stuffed Picnic Loaf & Cheese Straws

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Week eighty six and I thought I would be a little adventurous this week and attempt something with yeast! I delved into Mary Berry’s Baking Bible and found the mushroom and garlic stuffed picnic loaf and to complete the savoury theme, cheese straws to compliment.

I made the bread dough as per Mary’s instructions and left it to rise or prove for two hour. With the lovely weather we have been having, this wasn’t an issue for me this time! I read the recipe carefully and Mary suggests either making one whole loaf that is stuffed or rolls so I opted for rolls as they are shared more easily.

Mary Berry's Mushroom & Garlic stuffed picnic loaf

The only issue I had was following the instructions for filling and folding the dough which proved to be tricky as it isn’t a sealed loaf. I added the filling and molded, coaxed, prodded and poked the dough until it resembled a roll rather than a wreck and left them to prove for a while longer. Then finally they went into the oven for about 15 minutes. When they came out, I had to brush them with some of the mushroom oil from the recipe and leave them to cool.

Kim's mushroom & garlic stuffed picnic loaf

The second recipe was for cheese straws. This was an easy dough to put together and then wrap in clingfilm for half an hour. Time ran out and the dough wasn’t used until the following day and needed to be worked a bit as it was a solid block!

Mary Berry's Cheese Straws

I rolled it out and cut the dough into straws and brushed them with egg and sprinkled with fresh Parmesan cheese. Into the oven they went for a short while until golden and brown.

Kim's cheese straws.

I have been trying to catch up with the Celebrity Master Chef – the episodes are currently stacked up ready to watch but I was pleasantly surprised to see how well Wayne Sleep did and how much he learned in such a short space of time.

I treated my kitchen this week too. I have seen some wall signs where the words are transferred directly onto the wall and found a lovely kitchen sign that reflected my love of baking! It was a bit of a pain to put up but worth it and I love it!

Kim's kitchen sign

Week Eighty One – Mary Berry’s Shrewsbury Biscuits & Crunchy Orange Syrup Loaves

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Week 81 and a later than usual blog- the reason? Hubby, the hairy hoolies and I managed to get away for a few days in our caravan- a well earned rest for all – but as is the norm for us, a trip to A&E for hubby at the end of the week!

I had intended to do a bake to take with us but time just ran away, packing and ensuring we had everything we needed so I knew what I wanted to bake, I just had to wait a week to do them and no, I wouldn’t be baking in the van! So I chose crunchy orange syrup loaves from Mary Berry’s Baking Bible. The recipe was really easy, it’s one of Mary’s throw all the ingredients together and mix and bake so off I set. I used liner cases in two loaf tins and into the oven they went.

Mary Berry's Crunchy Orange Syrup Loaves

While the loaves were baking, I had to mix the juice of one orange with some granulated sugar so that when the loaves are baked, Mary asks you to brush this mix over the top of the loaves while they are hot, then leave to cool.

Kim's Crunchy Orange Syrup Loaf

The second recipe I chose was Mary’s Shrewsbury biscuits which again, were fairly simple to make and the dough came together easily.  Once the dough is made, roll it out to about half a centimetre and use the cutter to cut out as many biscuits as you can. Bake in the oven for about 8 minutes then remove, brush with some egg white and sprinkle with caster sugar and return to the oven for about another five minutes until nicely golden.

Mary Berry's Shrewsbury Biscuits

The resulting biscuits I was rather pleased with, I just hope they stay crisp enough in the tin until they are all eaten.

Kim's Shrewsbury Biscuits

Hubby and I found a lovely cottage while we were away, tucked away along a bridle path. I had my little point and shoot camera with me and had to take a photo or two. It looks idyllic to me and I could picture hubby, the hairy hoolies and I living here quite happily. We didn’t get to see the inside of it and in some ways I am pleased about that as it is likely that it wouldn’t live up to the dreamy picture of what it should be like. I could definitely picture me baking in the kitchen and cream teas on the lawn with the hairy hoolies running around.

Kim's idyllic fantasy home

Oh, and the countdown continues- with 106 recipes left to bake……

 

 

Week Seventy Eight- Mary Berry’s Cornish Fairings & Very Best Chocolate Fudge Cake

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Week 78 already and as it has recently been my other mum’s birthday , I had given her a token with four choices of birthday cake (from  Mary Berry’s Baking Bible – of course) so that she could choose what birthday cake she got. Due to some recent ill health, no choice had been made and suddenly it’s hubby’s birthday too and so a joint birthday cake was the choice of the day otherwise we would be all caked out- literally!

Mary Berry's Very Best Chocolate Fudge Cake

So I dipped into the Baking Bible with hubby and he chose the very best chocolate fudge cake. This seemed like an easy recipe to do so off I set. I added cocoa to some hot water and mixed it together then added all the other ingredients and mixed it thoroughly. I then split the mix between 2 greased and lined sandwich tins and popped them in the oven. The smell as they cooked was mouth watering. The cakes rose well and no dips in the middle today so the oven behaved today. To make the topping/filling Mary asks you to melt the chocolate with some cream and when cool, use as a filling and topping. So nearly 2 bars of dark chocolate and a pot of cream later, I had to spread some in the middle and over the top!

Kim's Very Best Chocolate Fudge Cake

The second recipe- what to do as I had already made a cake that was going to be very rich and filling. I found the Cornish Fairings recipe and followed Mary’s recipe carefully.

Mary Berry's Cornish Fairings

I rubbed the butter into the flour and then added the sugar. I then heated the golden syrup and added this to the mix until it formed a dough. Mary then asks you to roll the dough into cherry size balls and bake for 10 minutes then remove the tray, bang it on a hard surface and return to the oven for 5 minutes. I found that the biscuits didn’t need to be banged although I did this anyway and that they burnt really easily and almost a quarter of mine were too far gone to be rescued. The one thing they did have going for them was that they had the biscuit snap when you broke them in half!

Kim's Cornish Fairings

So I want to wish a belated birthday to my other mum and I hope that you begin to feel better soon.

I would also like to wish my special hubby a happy birthday too. I know you didn’t get what you wanted for your birthday but we have each other and I love you very much…and so do the hairy hoolies!

Week Seventy Seven – Mary Berry’s Iced Gingerbread with Stem Ginger & Fork Biscuits

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Week seventy seven and what a week it has been! I had returned to work on half days and was thoroughly exhausted and hubby had a rather unpleasant encounter with a hot kettle! Plenty of wet towels, an ambulance ride and a six hour wait in A&E and we eventually got home. Not the ideal evening I had planned curled up on the sofa with painkillers and my trusty hot water bottle but needs must. I am now a dab hand with Jelonet and  latex-free bandages…more skills to add to my repertoire!

Evil Kettle

I picked up Mary Berry’s Baking Bible with a heavy heart this week given the recent events and the fact that I seem to be eternally tired while I continue to recover from my op. I scoured through Mary’s recipes trying to summon up some enthusiasm and having given up on that, settled on gingerbread and fork biscuits. The gingerbread recipe was quite simple and was one of her ( I am eternally grateful) throw everything pretty much in a bowl and mix. The only variance to this was adding the bicarb and milk to the mix and beating it in. I then poured the mix into my prepared tin and into the oven it went. I had to set the timer for an hour and then after an hour, turn the oven down and bake for a further half an hour.

Mary Berry's Iced Gingerbread with Stem Ginger

I think my oven is getting old and temperamental as from the time the gingerbread went in to the time it came out, the oven door was not opened once yet the cake sank in the middle….and no, I didn’t open the door, even the tiniest bit to check it! I looked through the window with the light on. So I turn the cake out and ice it upside down so all the icing doesn’t pool in the middle of the cake! Oh and thanks to hubby, I didn’t add the chopped up stem ginger to the icing as he “wasn’t keen”!!!!

Kim's Gingerbread Kim's Iced Gingerbread

The second recipe had to wait until the gingerbread had cooked as it required a hotter oven. It was Mary’s fork biscuit recipe which looked quick and simple and I used her suggestion at the bottom of making them citrusy by adding some grated orange peel. The recipe was again quite simple, mix the four ingredients together, and form a dough. Divide the dough into approximately 16 walnut size balls and use a fork to flatten the biscuits. Bake for about 15 minutes.

Mary Berry's Fork Biscuits

The resulting biscuits didn’t spread out as much as Mary suggests they do but they were light and quite tasty. I am keen on the Mary philosophy that they don’t all need to be the same size either to taste okay!  I might consider doing these again.

Kim's Fork Biscuits

I am missing all my favourite programmes at the moment- no more Great British Bake Off, no more Mary Berry Cooks and no more Dr Who at the moment. Having been off for a few weeks recovering though, I have watched an awful lot of TV lately and when I list what I have watched and enjoyed recently, you will get an insight into my TV tastes…lol….so here we go…..Haven, The Mentalist, The new Ironside, Hawaii Five O, The Following, Revolution, About a Boy, Grimm……see no soap operas in sight …..

Week Seventy Six – Mary Berry’s Farmhouse Brown Seeded Loaf & Easter Simnel Cake

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Week seventy six at last, I am back in the baking saddle but it is a tentative exploration during my recovery and I have found that the mind is willing but the body doesn’t want to stand in place for too long without moving or sitting down! So I decided to find some recipes from Mary Berry’s Baking Bible that I could manage this week.

The first being Mary’s farmhouse brown seeded loaf which I let my bread machine take the strain of as I was not up to kneading bread etc but wanted to make it so I followed Mary’s recipe but then let the machine do the proving and kneading and baking. A bit of  cheat I know but a girl can only do so much….

Mary Berry's Farmhouse Brown Seeded Loaf

The resulting bread doesn’t look as pretty as Mary’s loaf but it was light and tasty inside and it is one of Mary’s recipes that I will make again at some point.

Kim's Farmhouse Brown Seeded Loaf

The second recipe was Mary’s Easter Simnel Cake, I thought I had better make this as I am hoping that I will have completed Mary’s challenge by next Easter and it would be a bit weird making a simnel cake at any other time of year.

Mary Berry's Easter Simnel Cake

I struggled standing for the length of time needed to weigh out all the ingredients but it is one of Mary’s usual throw all the ingredients in and mix recipes and I used my electric had mixer to take up the strain of mixing it by hand. I poured half the mix into the lined cake tin, added a circle of marzipan and then the rest of the cake mix on the top.

After 2 1/2 hours the cake was done. I let it cool and then brushed the top with jam, topped it with another marzipan circle and 11 marzipan balls, brushed it with egg and then borrowed my other mum’s kitchen blowtorch to brown it all.

Kim's Easter Simnel Cake

Although I am not overly keen on marzipan, I am looking forward to having a slice of this.

I would like to take the time to thank all of you who follow this blog regularly and also to those who dip in and out as they discover it, welcome all and please feel free to pop back as often as you like. I have discovered a true love of baking through this challenge and enjoy sharing the experience on here, the good times and the disasters.

Week Seventy Four – Mary Berry’s Sultana Streusel Buns & Banana & Chocolate Chip Bars

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Week Seventy four found me up at silly o’clock on a Sunday morning , having walked the dogs and completed both bakes by 8.45am! I chose Mary Berry’s sultana streusel buns and the banana & chocolate chip bars from her Baking Bible.

Mary Berry's Sultana Streusel Buns

I made doubly sure that I read the recipe for the sultana streusel buns before I started, as I didn’t want any disasters this week. Mary asks you to put the flour and baking powder in a bowl and rub in the butter until it looks like breadcrumbs. I must admit this is my least favourite method as I never feel that it looks like it should! Mary then asks you to stir in the sugar and the sultanas. Then lightly beat the egg and milk together and mix all in one go to the bowl and beat to a smooth mix. Put spoons of the mixture in the cases.

This recipe has a topping that is made by flour, sugar and melted butter. Use a fork to mix it until it is crumbly and put a spoon of this on top of each bun. Then put it in the oven.

Kim's Sultanas Streusel Buns

I have never made these before and they needed about 5-10 minutes longer to cook than Mary suggests but they looked quite unusual.

The second recipe was the banana and chocolate chip bars. As I have mentioned before, my hubby is allergic to banana and I have made other banana recipes when visiting my mum so that the family can eat them. Mary does suggest in this recipe that you can substitute apricots for the banana so that’s what I did.

Mary Berry's Banana & Chocolate Chip Bars

The recipe is quite simple. Mary asks you to put the flour, oats and sugar into a bowl and mix and then rub in the butter- ( did I mention that I don’t like this method?!) Put half the mix into a tin- Mary suggests a square tin but I put mine in a round one. Then add the apricots and then top with the rest of the mixture. Bake in the oven.

Kim's Apricot & Chocolate Chip Bars

Allow the finished product to cool in the tin and then cut into bars. I am renaming my bake to “Mary Berry’s Apricot & Chocolate Chip Bars”

The countdown continues…..120 left to go…..

Week Seventy Three- Mary Berry’s Swiss Wild Strawberry & Walnut Cake & Almond Tuiles

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Week seventy three and I should heed my words in a recent blog- read the recipe fully and carefully before attempting the bake! I dipped into Mary Berry’s Baking Bible and found the Swiss wild strawberry & walnut cake which sounded lovely.

Mary Berry's Swiss Wild Strawberry & Walnut Cake

Stupidly I weighed everything into a bowl and mixed it and turned it into the tin as I kind of assumed that Mary’s recipe would be her usual throw everything in a bowl and mix affair- how wrong I was- but I ended up with a rather thick pancake!

Kim's failed attempt!

So take two- Mary Berry’s Swiss wild strawberry & walnut cake – even though hubby was trying to persuade me to leave the walnuts out. After CAREFULLY reading the recipe and begging three eggs from my other mum, I put the three eggs in a bowl with the sugar and whisked until mousse like and thick, leaving a trail. Then fold in the sifted flour and walnuts. Put into the tin and bake for 45 minutes.

This time the cake rose but despite being on the right temperature for the full amount of time and the oven door not being opened, it still rose less in the middle. But it was 100% better than the last effort.

Kim's Walnut Sponge

When cool, Mary asks you to slice the cake into three- with trepidation I grasped the knife and made my first cut. The top layer came away quite easily as there was a slight crust on the top but the next cut was harder as the sponge is very light but I managed it. In my local Morrisons I found a box of Spanish strawberries which looked heavenly and when I opened them , they smelled amazing and tasted just like strawberries from my childhood. I whipped double cream until it was nice and thick and spread cream onto each layer with some strawberries and finally the cream spread over the top and sides and finished with more strawberries.

Kim's Swiss Wild Strawberry & Walnut Cake Kim's slice of Swiss Wild Strawberry & Walnut Cake

The second bake I had left for a while as I had watched with amusement the contestants on the last Great British Bake Off making tuile biscuits with varied results .

The almond tuiles recipe was rather bizarre in that you creamed the egg and sugar together. In another bowl, add the egg white and mix the flour in. What Mary doesn’t tell you is that it goes like glue! Then mix all the ingredients together including the chopped almonds. Mary then asks you to put a teaspoon of the mixture onto the baking tray- she suggests four spoonfuls on each tray to allow for spreading. Only bake four at a time and this is really important.

Mary Berry's Almond Tuiles

Bake them until they are brown around the edges but not the middle. Remove from the oven, time is of the essence here. Allow to cool for a few seconds and use a spatula to lift and drape over a rolling pin to create the curve. Allow to cool on this before putting on a rack for final cooling.

Kim's Almond Tuiles

I was pleased with my tuiles and the curves I managed to get!

I usually listen to music while I am in my own little world baking in the kitchen. I can become a bit of a sports widow while there is rugby or formula one on and baking is a good way of filling this time. I have been listening to Robbie Williams album “Swings Both Ways “ and its brilliant. Such an eclectic mix of music, quite different to his normal style and I can highly recommend it. He is no Michael Buble (sigh…) but he has certainly given him a run for his money with this album!

Oh, and the countdown now stands at T – 122 recipes left to go….

Week Seventy One – Mary Berry’s Apricot Swiss Cakes & Lemon Cream Tartlets

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Week seventy one and this week’s venture into Mary Berry’s Baking Bible found these two recipes. The first was the lemon cream tartlets. This tartlet has a shortbread base so I followed Mary’s recipe and made the shortbread and then had to wrap it in cling film and pop it into the fridge for 15 minutes.

 Mary Berry's Lemon Cream Tartlet

When the time was up, Mary asks you to roll out the shortbread and use a cutter to cut out 12 circles and put them into the tin and bake for 20-25 minutes until golden brown. Once cooked, Mary tells you to allow them to cool in the tin before attempting to get them out- wise advice, I only attempted one while they were warm and took part of the edge off!

Kim's shortbread cases

When they are completely cool, whip some double cream and add some lemon curd. This is the filling for the tartlet. Mary tells you one important thing here- only fill the tartlet when you are ready to eat it or the filling will make the crispy shortbread go soggy- and you do not want a soggy bottom here! Mary suggests adding a strawberry to the top. I decided to stick with the citrus theme and added a clementine slice.

Kim's lemon cream tartlet

The second recipe was the apricot swiss cakes. This is pretty much a mix all the ingredients together recipe and then add to a piping bag and pipe circles into 12 cake cases and bake for 15 minutes.

Mary Berry's Apricot Swiss Cakes

Once cooked and golden brown, allow to cool and add a spoon of apricot jam to each cake and sprinkle with icing sugar. These remind me very much of Viennese whirls.

Kim's Apricot Swiss Cakes

As usual, the hairy hoolies were in the kitchen while I was cooking. Hubby came in at the end to see if he could scavenge some remnants from the bowl- his favourite part and he allowed the hoolies to sample a little of the whipped cream- not all of it I hasten to add and then thank goodness for a dishwasher!

The Hairy Hoolies

Well I did a really silly thing just now- I decided to count how many recipes I had left to cook- I thought it would be significantly less by now but no …. I still have …..126 recipes to go….but at least I now have a countdown!

On a lighter note- Mary Berry is back on the television this week- yay!

Week Sixty Nine – Mary Berry’s Marmalade Tray Bake & Melting Moments

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Well I am definitely back in the baking saddle this week, I was raring to go this morning and delved eagerly into Mary Berry’s Baking Bible to find 2 bakes that I could fit in today. I do like the tray bake section- have I mentioned that I am still recycling my Lakeland foil tray bake tins?! Well Mary’s recipe for the marmalade tray bake is a “no brainer”- throw all the ingredients into the bowl and mix. The only thing she warns you about is measuring the marmalade carefully as too much will make the tray bake sink in the middle.

Mary Berry's Marmalade Tray Bake

The finished tray bake looks like a mix between a fruit cake and a bread pudding but with a tangy orangy smell.

Kim's Marmalade Tray Bake

Mary’s next recipe should have been just as easy but either I was tired or not reading the recipe as carefully as I should have- and I wasn’t wearing my glasses. Mary tells you to add the butter, sugar, egg yolks, vanilla extract and flour into a bowl and mix into a dough- my HUGE mistake was at a quick glance I “misread” the golden (sugar) for golden syrup- and yes, that’s what I added instead of the sugar….. when I realised what I had done, I had 2 choices, continue and see how they turned out or throw the mix away and only have 1 bake this week…… so I continued…. and added the porridge oats to the dough and mixed them in when Mary clearly says ( on closer and second time of reading!!!…..Sigh…) make the biscuit dough, roll into small bowls and roll the balls in the porridge oats…. well at this point I was really kicking myself and decided to bake a batch to see how they turned out anyway- waste not , want not as my Nan would have said.

Mary Berry's Melting Moments

Well, given that I added golden syrup instead of golden caster sugar and mixed the oats into the mix rather than rolling the small dough balls in it, I didn’t think they turned out badly at all so I baked the rest of the batch and was rather pleased that my complete hash turned out okay after all.

Kim's Melting Moments

Note to self, ” read all recipes at least once and with glasses on before attempting next bake.” !!!!!

Illness stops play….but only temporarily!

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It should be week sixty nine and I should be posting about the culinary delights that I have attempted from Mary Berry’s Baking Bible this week. Alas that is not the case as from Friday, I have had the sickness bug that has been going around and I have pretty much just curled up on the sofa most of the weekend and the thought of trying to bake something without either being sick or infecting any of my tasters was just too much to take.

I find myself missing the time in the kitchen though, just me and Mary’s book and getting lost in the moment, with the hairy hoolies waiting to see if I drop anything.

I found myself tucked up in bed rather early yesterday, a combination of being a winter Olympic/rugby union widow and just generally feeling wiped out. I put on a DVD that my friend at work had lent me when she heard about my challenge and blog and the dvd had sat on my kitchen table for some while. It was called “Julie & Julia” and within minutes I was captured and thoroughly enjoyed the tale of Julia Childs and Julie Powell who set herself a challenge to cook her way through Julia Childs cookbook and blogged about it. If you haven’t seen it, I would thoroughly recommend it and it has given me a real boost while flagging a little with my challenge. The only jaw dropping moment was when Julie heard that Julia Childs “hated” her blog and she was devastated. I was astonished given the kind of woman she was portrayed as that she would say such a thing. I researched this further and found an article here that explained it in more depth and that is wasn’t as harsh as the journalist in the film tried to portray.

The film reminded me of the day I read in the Daily Mail the article about Anneliese, a young mum who baked her way through Mary Berry’s Baking Bible and wrote “Rising to the Berry” , her blog of her adventures. This inspired me to begin this journey and I have seen others who have started this journey too.

Everyone needs to rise to a challenge sometimes and this has certainly challenged me. I have enjoyed every moment so far even with time restrictions and various health issues. The challenge continues until I had baked every single recipe in Mary’s book…but the bigger question is- what do I do then?